Dynamic Earth. Plates, plumes and mantle convection / Динамичная Земля. Плиты, плюмы и мантийная конвекция

Dynamic Earth presents the principles of convection in the earth's mantle in an accessible style. Mantle convection is the process underlying plate tectonics, volcanic hotspots and, hence, most geological processes. This book is one of the first to synthesise the exciting insights into the earth's basic internal mechanisms that have flowed from the plate tectonics revolution of the 1960s.
The book summarises key observations and presents the relevant physics starting from basic principles. The core of the text shows how direct inferences from observations and basic physics clarify the roles of the tectonic plates and mantle plumes. The main concepts and arguments are presented with minimal mathematics, although more mathematical versions of important aspects are included for those who desire them. The book also surveys the geochemical constraints on the mantle and discusses its dynamical evolution, with implications for changes in the surface tectonic regime.
The audience for Geoff Davies' book will be the broad range of geologists who desire a better understanding of the earth's internal dynamics, as well as graduate students and researchers working on the many aspects of mantle dynamics and its implications for geological processes on earth and other planets. It is also suitable as a text or supplementary text for upper undergraduate and postgraduate courses in geophysics, geochemistry, and tectonics. <...>